BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD...THOUGH THE DARKNESS CLOSES IN...

Today,
I ask you to

begin reading this

post with the

lyrics of the first

song on

our playlist as the

song plays. The

lyrics are below.

.

.

Blessed Be Your Name
In the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name

.
Blessed Be Your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed Be Your name

.
Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

.
Blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's 'all as it should be'
Blessed be Your name

.
Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name

.
Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

.
You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name

.

Every blessing You pour out

I'll turn back to praise

When the darkness closes in, Lord

Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your name

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your name

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your glorious name.

.

You give and take away

You give and take away

My heart will choose to say

Lord, blessed be Your name

.

Steve and I have two sons named, Jordan and Caleb. If you're familiar with the Bible at all, you know the story. The Jordan River is the "river of life" that flows south through the "promised land". Caleb and his friend, Joshua, were the only two of twelve spies who believed that with God nothing was impossible. They led the children of Israel across the Jordan, into the Promised Land.

.

So, why didn't we name one of our children Joshua? Well, if Crystal would have been a boy, that would have been his name. We would then have had our own Joshua and Caleb crossing the Jordan.

.

It still worked though... because our kids have a cousin named Joshua (son of Steve's sister, Sharla). Each one has a distinct faith journey story: Jordan Sikes, Caleb Sikes, and Joshua Marcum. They each have been on very unique spiritual journeys that have been dotted with difficult circumstances along the way. I've shared with you about both of our sons on previous posts.

.

Today, I want you to get to know Joshua a little better. Like Timothy, he has had deeply spiritual, virtuous women who have helped to mold and guide him: his mother Sharla and his grandmother Robbie. Joshua chose Julie (who was a virtuous woman from a very early age) as his bride and together they have three little girls. As missionaries in Bolivia, they have experienced a magnitude of tragedy this past week. A bus load of their youth crashed, killed three, and many were injured. They need your support, your prayers, your encouragement. Please click here to read Julie's words of the last few days describing what they have gone through... http://jjmarcum22.blogspot.com/

Much like the Joshua of scripture, Joshua Marcum has chosen to stand tall during a very dark time and say, "BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD..."

.

You can also read more updates at www.christianchronicle.org . You can also connect with The Marcum's blog at any time by going to the right sidebar of this blog under the section entitled SIKES' FAMILY LINKS.

.